In this podcast, Sabine Rohmann outlines the challenges and opportunities for teachers presented by globalisation, workless communities and new technology.

Rohmann, co-organiser of last week’s Council of Europe’s teachers’ conference and a professional trainer, admits that many teachers are demoralised because they “know they have to change” but are unsure as to the manner in which this change can be achieved.

“The society of the 21st century is global,” Rohmann says. “We have to think globally. We have a generation that was educated to be teachers at a time when change was not so quick and not so massive.”

According to Rohmann, teachers need support to “re-define their role” because globalisation and the arrival of the internet force upon them the requirement to “impart knowledge” and construct “competence.”

She insists that: “As we don’t know how society will be in 10 or 20 years, we have to educate students in a way that they can act in a competent manner in new and unknown situations. We have to redefine the role of each stakeholder.”

Rohmann also discusses the school’s contribution to the inter-generational contract, which has been put at risk by austerity and unemployment.